What a semi final round! The results were just incredible, all wins coming by way of a total knockout, and the finalists showing who the dominant sides are.
The match between England and New Zealand was always going to be hotly contested, and the crowd made it’s presence known early after a tackle on Gilles Kaka, with two sin binnings to Dan Bibby for the Kaka tackle and Tom Mitchell being sin binned just over four minutes into the game. That said, the game though was hard fought by both teams, Sherwin Stowers once again proving a danger man out wide, scoring the first points for New Zealand. Gilles Kaka was unlucky to recover a well placed kick deep into English territory before tempers flared with 1:35 to go, with the push and shove resulting in a New Zealand penalty which Scott Curry quickly capitalised on. Ben Lam muscled his way over the line just after the half time horn went, making it a solid 19 – 0 lead into the break.
Wellington Sevens: The Grand Final Decider – NZ v SA
Early in the second half the Kiwis kept piling the pressure on, not giving the English a sniff of the action. Bryce Heem collecting a perfectly placed cross kick put New Zeland out to 26-0 with just over three minutes to play before DJ Forbes was forced into touch on what was almost certainly his own try run. New Zealand proved way to strong for a tired looking England team, who finally fell 31 – 0
The second semi between Fiji and South Africa started with strong Fijian possession. Fiji has been absolutely on fire this weekend, and have looked virtually impossible to get on top of. However Sampie Mastriet managed to do just that, scoring the first points in another of South Africa’s ground and pound scoring opportunities. Cecil Afrika crashed across the line just before half time, dragging one of the Fijians along with him on his Jersey to boot!
It was almost like South Africa found another gear in this semi, they certainly weren’t the team who came out against Australia. Again, maybe they were holding something back, but this Blitzbokke squad was simply devastating! Even factoring in a yellow card to Semi Kunetani for a high tackle, Fiji were just completely outclassed.
So again we find ourselves on the brink of a New Zealand and South Africa grand final. The big questions, can New Zealand overcome the issues they have in getting past this South African team. It seems South Africa has left its run late, and is peaking at the perfect time, while New Zealand have been playing hard and must be feeling the fatigue. New Zealand though have been playing with blistering pace in their games since losing to Fiji, and are looking to have found their dominance.
Kyle Brown said to me yesterday he had to give the favourite tag to New Zealand. Personally I think that was just his classic modesty shining through. This is going to be a classic battle down to the wire, and I don’t see a big point margin here. If New Zealand can pull it out, there’s only going to be a few points in it, but I do believe the home audience will be what lifts the Kiwi boys over the line.
No matter what, this is what these series are all about. The final decider lets us see the two best teams in World 7s punching it out. I can’t wait!
